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There was a time when booking ski hire was something you did once you arrived in resort. You’d wander into a shop, queue up, explain what you needed and hope there was still a decent choice of skis and boots in your size.
That’s changing.
Increasingly, skiers are choosing to arrange their equipment before they travel. At alpy.com, bookings from returning UK customers have grown steadily over the past three seasons – a sign that pre-booking ski hire is becoming a more established part of planning a ski holiday.
Why book your ski hire in advance?
For skiers, the attraction is fairly simple: you can make your choices when you have time, rather than trying to sort everything out on your first morning in the mountains.
Choose your resort, dates and equipment from home – whether you need skis and boots, a snowboard, children’s equipment or something more technical for confident skiers. When you arrive, your kit is waiting at the partner shop, ready to be fitted and adjusted.
And there’s another obvious benefit: you don’t have to take your own equipment with you.
That means no digging last season’s skis out of the garage, checking whether the edges still need attention or finding space for bulky equipment on the journey. For anyone travelling by plane or train, avoiding the extra luggage can make the trip considerably easier.
Online booking can also mean lower prices. Make savings of up to 65% available through the platform, depending on the equipment and rental period.
The ski shop still does the important bit
Booking online doesn’t mean the human side of ski hire disappears.
Far from it. Once you reach the resort, the local ski shop still does what it has always done: the team will make sure your equipment fits properly, adjust your bindings, help you choose the right set-up for your ability and take account of the conditions on the mountain.
Need to change your equipment during the week? That can still be dealt with in the shop too.
In other words, the online part simply happens earlier. The advice, fitting and personal service still take place face to face, in resort.
A more digital ski hire market
That change has been building gradually. Ski rental has traditionally been a very local and fragmented business, with independent shops and larger chains serving individual resorts and valleys.
Platforms such as alpy.com are helping to bring those businesses online. Launched 20 years ago as ALPINRESORTS.COM, the platform now works with more than 1,150 ski rental shops across ski areas, including both independent businesses and larger chains.
For the shops, being online means they can put their prices, equipment and availability in front of skiers well before they travel. And they can do it without changing the way they operate once those customers arrive in resort.
It does, however, require some work behind the scenes. Shops need to keep their stock and availability up to date on the platform while remaining in control of their own pricing, equipment and customer relationships.
From an afterthought to part of the holiday planning
There’s a wider change here, too.
As more of the ski holiday is organised online, equipment hire is starting to move into the planning stage rather than being something left until arrival. Skiers are increasingly booking their accommodation, lift passes and equipment before they travel. Knowing that one more practical job is already sorted can make the first day in resort a little easier.
For resorts and tourist offices, this shift matters too. Making ski hire easy to book before arrival helps make the whole holiday feel simpler from the start. The growing number of shops joining platforms such as alpy.com reflects this wider move towards planning more of the ski holiday before setting off.
Ski hire is no longer necessarily something you sort out when you arrive. For a growing number of skiers, it’s become another part of getting ready to hit the slopes.
Book your ski hire at alpy.com
